St. AnnDear Parishioners of Our Beloved St. Paul:Praised be Jesus Christ, and Mary, His Most Holy Mother! On Tuesday of last week, July 26th, the Church kept the liturgical commemoration of Sts. Joachim and Ann, the Holy and Righteous Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are the grandparents of Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and in the Eastern Church they are called, the Holy and Righteous Ancestors of God.As is well known, often a grandmother is called nana or a variation of that word. It, in turn, is derived from the Latin for Ann which is Anna. St. Ann’s very name indicates that she is a grandmother.St. Ann is one of the most powerful intercessors in Heaven. She has been invoked by the Christian faithful since time immemorial. She is the patroness of expectant mothers, of women experiencing difficult pregnancies, of all children and of young women seeking a suitable Catholic husband. She is invoked as a protectress against lightning. St. Teresa of Avila founded over 16 Carmelite monasteries in Spain during the sixteenth century, and she placed all of them under the patronage of good St. Ann. St. Teresa wrote, Surely, Our Lord Jesus Christ, will never allow to founder any home dedicated to his most Holy and Glorious Grandmother.After her death in the Holy Land, St. Ann’s Holy Body was brought to Brittany in France and buried deep in the mountains for protection. During the sixteenth century, miners discovered the holy remains of St. Ann in a mine. In that place today stands the magnificent basilica of St. Ann d‘Auray. In that basilica many pilgrims come to pray before the tomb of St. Ann. The Breton people (the inhabitants of Brittany in France) brought their love of St. Ann to the New World, to New France. And there in Quebec they built the magnificent shrine of St. Ann de Beaupré. Perhaps some of our parishioners have even visited that lovely shrine where so many miracles have occurred.Because of the circumstances surrounding the discovery of her body, St. Ann is the patron of miners. For that reason each year at the Basilica of St. Ann in Scranton, Pennsylvania, there is a novena in her honor attended by scores of thousands. (Scranton was formerly a major coal mining region in our country).I know a lady who had a very difficult pregnancy and who was told by many doctors she would lose her child. She had to remain on total bed rest for six months of her pregnancy and she prayed to St. Ann incessantly to spare the child. She dedicated her unborn child to St. Ann and promised that, if the baby were a girl, she would name her Ann. A baby boy was born safely, and in the providence of God became a priest. The miracles, graces and favors wrought through the intercession of St. Ann are innumerable. The Little Sisters of the Poor are very devoted to St. Ann, and after St. Joseph, she is the secondary patroness of the congregation.How blessed we are that a family who wished to remain anonymous gave to St. Paul’s a magnificent woodcut statue of St. Ann, hand carved in Italy. The statue is given simply In Loving Memory of Josie, and it is in our Daily Mass Chapel. Visit this statue and pray to good St. Ann. It is my hope that after we are all gone and forgotten the future generations of St. Paul’s will love and invoke St. Ann. The presence of this statue gives me great personal joy because when I was ordained a priest 35 years ago I had made a promise of mine that if ever I were to be made a pastor of a Church I would place a statue of St. Ann in the Church. For you see, the lady to whom I made reference above is my own mother who passed away earlier this year, and the baby boy is now your Pastor. Had it not been for St. Ann, I would not be here with you today.St. Ann, Mother of her who is our life, our sweetness and our hope, pray for us!Page 4 July 31, 2016ST. PAUL’S CENTERSTAGE PRODUCTION OF BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Please see the bulletin announcement for all the information about the St. Paul’s Centerstage Production of Beauty and the Beast. Many parishioners have been working very hard to provide this musical play for us. Please see the bulletin for the dates of performance and join us for a wonderful evening or afternoon of entertainment. It will be well worth while. I am very grateful to the cast and staff of Centerstage for their efforts and very diligent work.THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION: This year the Solemnity of the Assumption falls on a Monday (August 15th) and therefore the obligation to attend Holy Mass is dispensed this year. Nonetheless, it is my fond hope that many of our people will come to holy Mass that day to honor Our Lady on her principal Feast. The one Mass that day will be at 8.00AM in the Chapel. I would encourage all of you to fast and pray from August 1st until the 15th. This is a very ancient tradition and is often referred to as Our Lady’s Lent.PARISH GALA DINNER/DANCE AND CASINO NIGHT: Please save the date of Friday October 28th. That will be our annual Parish Gala Dinner/Dance and Casino Night. Once again we will have the casino night provided by the M&M Twins (my good friends, Marco and Michael Posillico). This proved to be so enjoyable last year and was a great success. May I ask and invite all parishioners to attend this wonderful evening at the newly refurbished Cottage of the Milleridge Inn. Mr. Butch Yamali, the new owner of the Milleridge Inn, recently invited me to go there to bless this new endeavor. I was accompanied by the Chair of the Gala Mrs. Paula Maturo and by committee member Mrs. Anne Maione. I entered every room of the Inn to bless it and sprinkle the Holy Water, all the shops, and the cottage and carriage house. It is remarkable how this historic inn is being restored to its original splendor. Mr. Yamali is a good friend to us at St. Paul’s and I would encourage everyone to come that night and to see the refurbished Inn. It is our major fundraiser through the course of the year. You may have noticed that this year I have completed 35 years as a priest. I am very honored that on that evening we will also celebrate these years of priesthood. We do not honor the priest individually, for every priest’s prayer is that of St. John the Baptist, he must increase, but I must decrease. But rather we give thanks to God for the gift of the priesthood which is love at the heart of the Church. I am most grateful to Mrs. Paula Maturo and her committee for all they have done for the success of this wonderful evening.St. Philip Neri: We must not be behind time in doing good; for death will not be behind his time.St. Josémaria Escrivá: Do not lament the past; learn from it and begin again.Pope Francis: Happy are the young because they have time before them to do good.In Jesus and Mary,Monsignor James F. Pereda

I will go unto the Altar of GodTo God who gives joy to my youth!Psalm 24

Today I would like to continue our catechesis on the Church Building: Beauty, Transcendence and the Eternal. As you know we will soon be beginning our capital campaign for the much needed maintenance and enhancement of our Church building, Lower Hall and grounds. To that end I have been writing extensively during the last five months on many of the enhancements to our Church. I am very grateful for your overwhelming support in this great endeavor – more than for which I could have ever hoped. It is my hope to edit my essays on church architecture and to present them as a catechesis in pamphlet form. I have written about the centrality of the Most Blessed Sacrament in the Church. I have written about the nave as the place where we are joined by the great communion of saints. I have written about precincts within the Church as places of encounter with the Divine. I have written about the rails which delineate our place of meeting with the Lord. I have written about the baptismal space as sacred entrance into the Church and I have written about the opening and closing of space as symbols of our encounter with the eternal and the importance of the door in Christian tradition and theology. Within the Church building itself we make pilgrimage, always as a people who are called to the Eternal Life of Heaven. Today I shall write about the place of entrance into the eternal and the place of music ministry. I shall write about the Narthex and the place of the music ministry. In Church architecture the use of a square (in Italian piazza, in Spanish plaza) in front of the Church calls the faithful to the warm embrace of God’s love. The square extends the love and grace of Christ into the world itself. Our parish church has a little square that calls the faithful to enter the Church. In a sense the exterior square in front of the Church extends the Church into the world. It is the first encounter with the Divine. The door opens into a grand space symbolic of eternity. We call the entrance area of a church the narthex. It is not really a lobby or vestibule although these secular terms suitable for theaters are sometimes employed. The narthex is the place where the people of God may gather for many reasons. To greet one another before and after Holy Mass. It serves as a place in which we gather with our deceased loved ones as we make the final entrance into the church. It is the place where we congratulate a young bride and groom newly united by Christ in Holy Matrimony. It is the place where the People of God, having been nourished with the Blessed Eucharist, can speak with one another. The narthex area should be a little larger than our present narthex and it should have immediately a distinctive vessel for the faithful to take Holy Water as they enter into the Church. It is our hope to allow more light to enter the narthex and allow it to become transparent with the radiance of Christ. The large window in front of the Church shines forth into the world showing Christ in glory entering into the world. It will also allow this beautiful window to be seen more prominently by those inside the Church itself as Christ stands among us now and forever. At the time of the Reformation whose 500th anniversary will be observed next year, Christendom was shattered and a completely foreign vision took hold of the Church and society. This was even expressed in Church architecture. As the reformers denied the efficacy of the Sacrifice of Holy Mass, they emphasized preaching as the primary presence of Christ rather than the Most Blessed Sacrament. The architecture followed this erroneous philosophy by making the churches more like theatres, sometimes even with the so-called stadium seating. We see this among the wealthy televangelist who have taken the weakness of human nature, always seeking entertainment, and given it a religious veneer.Church music however was never orchestral or stimulating. The purpose of church music is to calm the soul and enable us to be in peace with Christ. Therefore to make the choir visible was foreign to the Catholic tradition and, particularly in America, there arose the tradition of the choir loft. The choir was not entertainment. Although our church has no choir loft, we will relocate the organ and music ministry to the north transept. There the music will support the singing of the faithful, be accessible to all, but not central. As we know, at present the music ministry is symmetrical to the Tabernacle, something rather unique and quite particular.…. To Be Continued

THE SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION: This year the Solemnity of the Assumption falls on a Monday (August 15th) and therefore the obligation to attend Holy Mass is dispensed this year. Nonetheless, it is my fond hope that many of our people will come to Holy Mass that day to honor Our Lady on her principal Feast. The one Mass that day will be at 8.00AM in the Chapel. I would encourage all of you to fast and pray from August 1st until the 15th. This is a very ancient tradition and is often referred to as Our Lady’s Lent.

PARISH GALA DINNER/DANCE AND CASINO NIGHT: Please save the date of Friday October 28th. That will be our annual Parish Gala Dinner/Dance and Casino Night. Once again we will have the casino night provided by the M&M Twins (my good friends, Marco and Michael Posillico). This proved to be so enjoyable last year and was a great success. May I ask and invite all parishioners to attend this wonderful evening at the newly refurbished Cottage of the Milleridge Inn. Mr. Butch Yamali, the new owner of the Milleridge Inn, recently invited me to go there to bless this new endeavor. I was accompanied by the Chair of the Gala Mrs. Paula Maturo and by committee member Mrs. Anne Maione. I entered every room of the Inn to bless it and sprinkle the Holy Water, all the shops, and the cottage and carriage house. It is remarkable how this historic inn is being restored to its original splendor. Mr. Yamali is a good friend to us at St. Paul’s and I would encourage everyone to come that night and to see the refurbished Inn. It is our major fundraiser through the course of the year. You may have noticed that this year I have completed 35 years as a priest. I am very honored that on that evening we will also celebrate these years of priesthood. We do not honor the priest individually, for every priest’s prayer is that of St. John the Baptist, he must increase, but I must decrease. But rather we give thanks to God for the gift of the priesthood which is love at the heart of the Church. I am most grateful to Mrs. Paula Maturo and her committee for all they have done for the success of this wonderful evening.

FATHER WALTER KEDJIERSKI: As many of you know, the Marianist Fathers who have provided weekend assistance at St. Paul’s for over 17 years are no longer able to come to assist at Sunday Masses. Because of ill health and their own needs, their last Sunday here was February 14, 2016. Since then I have been actively looking for a priest who may assist us. Naturally, priests who help in parishes on Sundays are usually in non-parish ministry. The parish priests must be in their own parishes on Sundays. We are fortunate that Father Walter Kedjierski, the Vice-Rector of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, will assist us from time to time on Sundays. (It will not be weekly but will be several times a month). Father Kedjierski is the Vice Rector of the Seminary and the Director of the Office of Diaconal Formation. He has been a professor at St. John’s University in Jamaica. In spite of his very impressive academic background Father Kedjierski has been a parish priest. He has served as parochial vicar (assistant pastor) at St. Catherine of Sienna (they spell it with two n’s whereas the city in Italy is spelt Siena, with one n.) in Franklin Square and Our Lady of Victory in Floral Park. He was pastor of the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Center Moriches until June 29, 2016, at which time he was appointed Vice Rector of the Seminary. We welcome Father Kedjierski in the charity of Christ and I am grateful for his priestly assistance. I am sure we will all come to appreciate Father’s presence among us. Father will not be with us for the month of August. He is going to England to defend and receive his doctorate from Oxford University. Father is too humble to speak of this. We assure him of our best wishes and congratulations and prayers for his successful doctoral defense. The doctorate from the University of Oxford is such a prestigious degree that the initials Ph.D. are not used but rather initials proper to the University itself, D. Onon. (the abbreviation for the Latin Doctor Ononensis).We congratulate Father Walter and pray he will be with us for many years. ​OUR POLICE: Because of bulletin deadlines I am writing this article on Sunday afternoon, July 17th. While we were all at Mass this morning, yet three more police officers were killed in cold blood, this time in Baton Rouge. Just when I had asked that the flag of our beloved nation be raised to full mast after today (one week for the Dallas shootings and three days for the Nice terrorist attack) we must postpone that and once again fly the Stars and Stripes at half-mast. We pray at every Sunday Mass here at St. Paul’s for all who serve and protect us in the police department…Let us continue our prayers and whenever we see the police greet and thank them. I am particularly grateful to the Old Brookville police who are untiring in their devotion to St. Paul’s which, as many of you know, has become a place where vandalism and crime of every kind, are not unknown. May God reward their goodness to us.

Dear Parishioners of Our Beloved St. Paul:Praised be Jesus Christ, and Mary, His Most Holy Mother! One of the most misunderstood doctrines (teachings) of the Church is that of Papal Infallibility (meaning “without error”). Up until about 50 years ago, most people never read or heard what the Holy Father had to say except for every so often when the Successor to St. Peter might have had something of importance to communicate to Catholics or to all the world. Assuredly, throughout the 19 plus centuries of Christianity there were popes who reigned for any number of years who never made a single theological or pastoral pronouncement of gravity that was recorded. What they had to say never went much further than those who physically heard them speak. Today’s experience in the second decade of the 21st Century is a much different story.In these days of instantaneous global media communication, one might be led to erroneously believe that everything and anything the Pope says is of infallible weight. In reality, papal infallibility (the extraordinary magisterium) exists within a very narrow scope and is rarely employed; the last time was by Pope Pius XII in 1950. When a doctrine is declared infallible it is never some “new” teaching being declared, but rather to the contrary, something that has to do with the development of a doctrine which the Church has always believed and celebrated at the very least “in seed form;” like those of our blessed Mother’s Immaculate Conception (1854) and also her Assumption into Heaven (1950), which the Church had believed and celebrated for many centuries. To use a classic example, the pope cannot declare a white sheet of paper to be black. Such a ridiculous statement would have nothing to do with faith or morals, and if the pope did say such a thing, we should rightly say that he is out of his mind!The First Vatican Ecumenical Council (December 8, 1869 – October 20, 1870) has defined as "a divinely revealed dogma" that "the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra (“from the chair” [of Peter]) — that is, when in the exercise of his office as pastor and teacher of all Christians he defines, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, a doctrine of faith or morals to be held by the whole Church — is, by reason of the Divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, possessed of that infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer wished His Church to be endowed in defining doctrines of faith and morals; and consequently that such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable (cannot be changed) of their own nature and not by reason of the Church's consent." For the correct understanding of this definition it is to be noted that:What is claimed for the pope is infallibility merely, not impeccability (that he is without sin) or inspiration (like the guidance of the Holy Spirit communicated to the human authors of Sacred Scripture.)The infallibility claimed for the pope is the same in its nature, scope, and extent as that which the Church as a whole possesses; his ex cathedra teaching does not have to be ratified by the Church's in order to be infallible.Infallibility is not attributed to every doctrinal act of the pope, but only to his ex cathedra teaching; and the conditions required for ex cathedra teaching are mentioned in the Vatican decree: The pontiff must teach in his public and official capacity as pastor and doctor of all Christians, not merely in his private capacity as a theologian, preacher or allocutionist, nor in his capacity as a temporal prince or as a mere ordinary (chief bishop) of the Diocese of Rome. It must be clear that he speaks as spiritual head of the Church universal. Then it is only when, in this capacity, he teaches some doctrine of faith or morals that he is infallible.Page 4 July 17, 2016 Further it must be sufficiently evident that he intends to teach with all the fullness and finality of his supreme Apostolic authority; in other words that he wishes to determine some point of doctrine in an absolutely final and irrevocable way, or to define it in the technical sense. These are well-recognized formulas by means of which the defining intention may be manifested. Finally for an ex cathedra decision it must be clear that the pope intends to bind the whole Church. To demand internal assent from all the faithful to his teaching under pain of incurring spiritual shipwreck (naufragium fidei) according to the expression used by Pius IX in defining the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. Theoretically, this intention might be made sufficiently clear in a papal decision which is addressed only to a particular Church; but in present day conditions, when it is so easy to communicate with the most distant parts of the earth and to secure a literally universal promulgation of papal acts, the presumption is that unless the pope formally addresses the whole Church in the recognized official way, he does not intend his doctrinal teaching to be held by all the faithful as ex cathedra and infallible.It should be observed in conclusion that papal infallibility is a personal and incommunicable charisma, which is not shared by any pontifical tribunal. It was promised directly to Peter, and to each of Peter's successors in the primacy, but not as a prerogative the exercise of which that could be delegated to others. Hence doctrinal decisions or instructions issued by the Roman congregations, even when approved by the pope in the ordinary way, have no claim to be considered infallible. To be infallible they must be issued by the pope himself in his own name according to the conditions already mentioned as requisite for ex cathedra teaching.Ss. Peter and Paul, pray for us!St. Philip Neri: Well! When shall we have a mind to begin to do good?St. Josémaria Escrivá: Yes, in so many ways you are a zero; but, never forget that to the left of all those zeroes stands the One who is Christ Himself; with Him how great can you be!Pope Francis: The Evil One never takes a vacation!.In Jesus and Mary,Monsignor James F. Pereda